A British film sales agency for independent cinema
We find the audience before we find the buyer.
Before a film goes to market, we test it with a recruited audience — people who owe it nothing. What we learn shapes how we position it, what we ask for it, and which buyers we approach first.
We represent no more than 5 features a year — each one genuinely researched, tested, marketed and sold.
- 3 of 5 places remaining — 2027 slate open
- Next deadline: American Film Market (AFM) — we need the film by September 2026
- Every film tested twice before a buyer sees it
We take on a small number of films each year. Deliberately.
Most sales agencies carry forty or fifty titles. At that volume, the bottom half of the slate is effectively unrepresented — time and attention go to whichever films are already selling. We work with far fewer, which means every film on our slate gets the full process: audience testing, deliberate marketing, and a real sales campaign.
What we do
Four things, in the order they usually happen.
We test the film with an audience
A recruited audience watches it under normal conditions — people who match who the film is for, and who owe it nothing. We measure whether they'd choose it and whether it holds them, then tell you plainly what the numbers mean. Sometimes it changes the cut. Often it changes the minimum guarantee.
Audience testing →We market it to create desire
A film that buyers are already curious about sells for more than an identical film they've never heard of. We build that curiosity deliberately — positioning, materials, festival strategy, the right noise in the right places at the right time — and we do it in service of the sale rather than as a separate exercise.
Film marketing →We sell it, territory by territory
We license your film to distributors, broadcasters and platforms across the major markets, and handle the deal from first approach through to contract, collection and reporting. You see every offer, including the ones we advise you to turn down.
International film sales →And we consult, when that's what's needed
Not every film needs representation, and not every producer wants it. Sometimes you need an hour with someone who does this for a living. That's a service too, and it's the cheapest useful thing we sell.
Consulting →The Audience First Package
One agreement. The film tested, recut, marketed and sold — with the evidence in the room before the minimum guarantee is discussed.
One film. One fee. One point of contact.
What we guarantee
The Score Movement Guarantee
Test screenings are only worth what you do with them. So: run the first screening, implement the changes we agree after it, and if the second screening doesn't show improvement in Excellent and Definitely recommend, the second screening is free.
The conditions are the point, not the small print. This works when you act on the findings. If you don't, we can't stand behind it — and we'll tell you that before you book, not after.
The Vault
No score, no comment, no verbatim, no report ever leaves this office without your written instruction. That is in the agreement, not just on this page.
Phones are collected and secured for the duration of every in-cinema screening. Every participant signs a non-disclosure agreement. No title, cast or synopsis is disclosed in recruitment beyond genre. The venue and date are never publicised.
The report belongs to you. You decide whether a buyer ever sees a number.
No fee to be considered
We don't charge to read, watch or consider your film, and we never will. If any sales agency asks you to pay to be looked at, that's your answer.
We reply either way within 2 working days.
Five places, and no way out
We take five films a year and we don't release a place once it's taken. If you're looking for an exit clause before you've started, we're the wrong agency — and we'd rather say that now than take the place from someone who wants it.
Why we take on fewer films
The 2027 slate is open. 3 of 5 places remain.
A sales agent's slate is a fixed quantity of attention divided among titles. Ours is deliberately short — no more than 5 features a year.
That isn't modesty. It's the mechanism. On a short slate, every film gets:
- Joey in the room for its meetings, not a junior with a one-line brief
- A territory plan written for that film, not a list of everyone we know
- Screenings arranged for the buyers most likely to say yes, in the right order
- A named person you can call, who has seen the film more than once
We turn down more films than we take. Sometimes because a film isn't ready, more often because we already have something too close to it on the slate and we'd be competing against ourselves. When we say no, we say why, and we'll tell you who we'd send it to instead.
The audience decides what a film is
Everyone in this business is guessing. A buyer sitting in a screening is estimating what strangers in another country will do eighteen months from now. A producer setting a minimum guarantee ask is guessing too, usually generously.
We'd rather know.
A film isn't finished when you lock the cut. It's finished when an audience decides what it is — and that happens whether or not you were in the room to hear it. The only question is whether you find out while you can still act on it, or after the deal is signed.
Studios have worked this way for decades. Independent producers mostly can't: the firms doing this at scale are built for studio budgets and a boutique feature never gets near them. So we do it ourselves, at a size that fits an independent film.
Nobody in this business gets the last word. Not the director, not the buyer, not us. Better to ask early.
Who we work with
Producers with a completed or nearly completed independent feature, looking for worldwide or international representation.
Directors and producers in post who want to know how the film plays while there's still time to change it.
Distributors and buyers looking for independent titles with clear audience evidence behind them.
Dawson's at a glance
- Founded
- 2018 by Joey Dawson
- Based
- London, United Kingdom
- Services
- international film sales, film marketing, audience testing and research, consulting
- Slate size
- no more than 5 features per year
- Markets attended
- all major markets
- Focus
- independent feature films — all genres, no documentaries currently
- Territories
- worldwide and international rights
- Contact
- joey@dawsonagents.com
Common questions
What does a film sales agent actually do?
A sales agent licenses your film's distribution rights to buyers in each territory — distributors, broadcasters and platforms — and takes a commission on what they bring in. They set minimum guarantee targets per territory, arrange market screenings, negotiate the deals. They are not your distributor, your financier or your publicist. They are the person who turns a finished film into deals.
Do I need a sales agent for my film?
If you want international distribution and don't already have direct relationships with buyers in each territory, yes — practically speaking. Buyers acquire at volume, from people they know, in compressed windows around the markets. If you're only after a single-territory release and you have that relationship, you may not need one.
How much commission do you take?
15–25% of gross receipts, depending on the film and the territories. Market and marketing expenses are recoverable from sales receipts and capped at a figure agreed in writing before you sign. There is also a representation fee — see the pricing page. Always get commission, expense cap and any fee in writing, with any agency.
How long is your agreement?
Subject to contract. We'd rather earn a renewal than hold rights we've stopped working.
Will you look at my film if it hasn't been to a festival?
Yes. Festival selection helps and it isn't a requirement. Send it.
What stage should I approach you at?
Earlier than most people do — when financing is secured. If you're in post, we can help with positioning and testing while changes are still possible. If you're finished, send the film.
When should I be talking to you — before or after the film is finished?
Before, if you can. The work that moves a price most is the work that happens while the cut can still change and while there's still a budget line to pay for it. If the film is finished, we can still help — but we're then working with what exists rather than helping shape it.
Can the cost be built into the film's budget?
Yes, and it's the sensible way to do it. Testing and marketing are production costs, not afterthoughts. If you're still in financing, we'll give you the figures to put in the budget. If you're financed and the money is committed elsewhere, talk to us about recoupment terms.
The calendar decides, not us
Buyers acquire in compressed windows around the markets. Working backwards from those windows is the only honest way to plan a sale.
Our cutoff is eight weeks before a market opens. That is what it takes to validate the audience, screen, recut, retest and build the campaign without rushing any part of it. For American Film Market (AFM) in November 2026, that means we need the film by September 2026. After that the next window is Ventana Sur in December 2026 — which is not a delay of a few weeks, it's a delay of a season.
| Market | Opens | We need the film by |
|---|---|---|
| American Film Market (AFM), Las Vegas | November 2026 | September 2026 |
| Ventana Sur, Buenos Aires | December 2026 | October 2026 |
| Sundance, Park City | January 2027 | November 2026 |
| European Film Market (EFM), Berlin | February 2027 | December 2026 |
| Hong Kong FILMART, Hong Kong | March 2027 | January 2027 |
| Marché du Film, Cannes | May 2027 | March 2027 |
| Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto | September 2027 | July 2027 |
Exact market dates shift from year to year, so we work in months here. Once you're talking to us we'll fix the day against that year's published dates.
Send us the film
We watch everything that comes in, and we reply either way within 2 working days.